Styling by Renee Muller
Photography by Hudi Greenberger

I know it’s overdone, but I do make a lot of meat boards in real life. I find that it’s an easy way to put together bits and pieces (hi, leftovers) and end up with what feels like a tasting menu; a small quantity of a bunch of different items. In this case, I used sliced hard salami, baked beef fry  brown sugar on top), and schnitzel. I will often add a more health-conscious option, like grilled chicken (see recipe on following page), but sometimes I add sliced chicken breast that’s left over from our Friday night seudah. I carefully remove the entire breast from the bone, making sure to keep the skin intact. Then I slice it, skin on, with a very sharp knife. 

I also include London broil. If you’ve made any of my meat recipes, you’ve seen this method before. I sprinkle a heavy hand of kosher salt and a lot of fresh cracked black pepper on both sides of the meat. Then I smear in 4–5 cloves of minced garlic, a sprinkle of soy sauce, and about 1 tsp of coffee granules. Marinate it for up to two hours, on the counter, and then roast it in a 500°F (260°C) oven (or under a high broiler) for about 3–5 minutes on each side. Then I remove it from the oven, let the oven come down to 250°F (120°C), and continue to cook it for about 20 minutes. This method eliminates the gray band on the outside perimeter of the meat and gets you a medium-rare interior edge-to-edge, with a delicious crust from the sear. By the way, thecoffee helps a lot with the color and flavor in the crust, so it’s a great addition. Let it rest before you cut into it, or just wait till Shabbos morning to slice it.

TIP: You can slice the London Broil in advance if you want one less thing to do on Shabbos morning, but if you do, make sure to keep the slices of meat wrapped tightly so that it doesn’t oxidize and turn gray.

I also usually have some hasselback salami type option on the board (shout-out to Chanie Apfelbaum for making this unmissable). Yes, because it’s delicious, but also, because it adds so much to a board aesthetically. In this case, I hasselback three knockwurst, and mixed together ketchup, duck sauce, and soy sauce and brushed the mixture on top.

I finish off the board with grainy mustard and a pickled vegetable. For that, sometimes I use pickled pearl onions as seen here, or pickled tomatoes from the supermarket (if you’ve never gotten into these, you must give them a try), cornichons, pickled cauliflower, or a combo thereof. Add a touch of green for color and call it a day.

Cholent

Here’s what I do: On Thursday night, I line a Crockpot with parchment paper. Add in a halved onion, a few cloves of garlic, marrow bones, and some (or all) of the meat. I put in enough water to just cover the bottom, and leave it like that overnight. In the morning you’ll see that it’s a really deep brown color. This gives the cholent a ton of color and flavor. On Friday, I add barley, a few cubed potatoes (we like Yukon gold the best), and a large handful of dried large lima beans. Then I add a nice amount of soy sauce, salt, pepper, paprika, and soup mix (any flavor, but usually chicken flavor), and a tiny drizzle of honey. I often pour in one box of vegetable stock, but sometimes I rely on the soup mix for flavor, and water almost to cover. I stir it a few times before Shabbos to make sure it’s cooking nicely and there’s sufficient liquid. And always, always taste for seasoning before Shabbos!

Sides

STRING BEANS AND SNAP PEAS

Danielle Renov gets all the credit for getting me (and countless others) into charred string beans. I do the same concept with snap peas as well. I’ll often make Meme’s Crack String Beans from Danielle’s book, but sometimes I do it with garlic and lemon zest, as seen here. Here’s how I do it: Place a sheet pan over two burners on your cooktop. Turn the heat to medium high, and drizzle the pan with oil. Put the string beans on the sheet pan, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Don’t keep tossing the string beans; you want to give them a chance to blister. When done, sprinkle with salt, pepper, a few cloves of minced garlic, and finally lemon zest.

POTATO KUGEL

Recently I got very into serving an overnight potato kugel, but in full disclosure, only when I have one from my mother. She hand-grates it, and it’s the best I’ve ever had. I don’t have the  same level of devotion as her, so I will always, always embrace a potato kugel with open arms.

(Originally featured in Family Table, Issue 738)